Intelligent Power Grid Expands Service Delivery
Background
Shandong Electric Power Corporation (Shandong Electric Power) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC). Currently, there are 550 kV/220 substations which continue to grow at an average rate of 20 percent every year. By 2015, Shandong Electric Power will have constructed a Intelligent Power Grid connecting 17 cities, comprised of main grids that use 500 kV and municipal grids using 200 kV.
In order to build Shandong Electric Power Corporation’s next-generation, high-bandwidth network, Huawei proposed a solution for a robust Intelligent Power Grid that integrates next-generation Optical Transport Network (OTN) and Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) technologies to construct the backbone network. The solution simplifies service delivery and enhances network security.
Challenges
Shandong Electric Power faced the following challenges in constructing a reliable, high-bandwidth network.
High network security and stability requirementsImportant critical applications such as relay protection have extremely strict security standards and require comprehensive protection strategies. The new IP and Storage Area Network (SAN) services are emerging on a large scale and establishing new requirements for communication networks.
Protection strategies to support complex networksThe Shandong provincial backbone network connects 17 provincial and municipal electric power centers and 19 substations. The provincial center is the central node. Three 10 Gbit/s channels are deployed for each municipal center connected to the provincial center. All municipal services are aggregated and backed up in the provincial center. As a result, the entire mesh network is very complex, and protection policies play a key role.
Evolution from SDH/PDH to IP and SAN servicesThe power company’s communications network is transforming from early 2 Mbit/s services (SDH/PDH) to diversified services (IP and SAN). Despite the growing popularity of IP data services, conventional Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) services will continue to exist for many years. The challenge was to find a technology that can transmit multiple services (conventional and new), including large-capacity data services.
Solution
Huawei recommended building a Intelligent Power Grid solution that integrated next-generation Optical Transport Network (OTN) and Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) technologies to construct the backbone network. Huawei’s solution had the following three key features:
1. Comprehensive protection strategiesHuawei’s solution combined OTN and ASON mechanisms to protect both optical and electric layers. The ASON-based protection strategy efficiently protected the communications network from fiber cuts and other man-made damage, ensuring a more secure and reliable electric power service operation. The entire network used Huawei OptiX OSN8800/OSN6800 that supports ASON technology at both the electrical and optical layers. Huawei also deployed Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) for complex nodes and ASON grooming for electrical layers. Huawei OSN8800 devices’ large cross-connection capabilities reduced the space required in equipment rooms. The OSN8800 supports a maximum of 80 channels, with each channel supporting data transmission at 10 Gbit/s to 100 Gbit/s.
2. Advanced grooming capabilities for small-granularity servicesHuawei OTN devices are intelligent Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) products that automatically enable switching protection, adjust the network, and fix network faults for many network exceptions. The devices support up to 6.4 Tbit/s non-blocking, centralized cross-connection capabilities. These devices enable intelligent cross-grooming between optical wavelengths and electric granules of GE/ODU1 (2.5G)/ODU2 (10G). At the time of development, Huawei was the only provider that could enable flexible grooming between optical wavelength and electric granules from ODU0 (2.5G) to ODUk (k can be 1, 2, or 3).
3. Expansion of OTN standardsHuawei holds 80 percent of key OTN patents. Huawei has led the development and promotion of OTN standards for the last 10 years, and its OTN products are used by 40 of world’s top 50 telecommunication carriers. By Q1, 2012, Huawei had shipped more than 140,000 sets of OTN devices, and secured more than 80 percent of the world’s OTN market share.
Benefits
Shandong Electric Power began to deploy Huawei’s OTN-compliant WDM devices in 2011. After one year of operation, it has benefited from the following achievements:
Service delivery has been simplified and network security has been enhanced. Huawei’s smart OTN devices ensure the robustness of the transmission network. Huawei’s solution supports the strategy of developing a national Intelligent Power Grid, and also helps Shandong Electric Power import power from other provinces. This project extends Shandong Electric Power’s industrial influence and will help SGCC to construct industry-leading Intelligent Power Grid before 2020
The energy-efficient, low-noise OTN devices embody SGCC’s principle of “constructing environmentally-friendly projects and carrying more social responsibilities”